Veto of Apple Ruling Likely to Upend Big Patent Battles

8/5/2013 9:48AM

The Obama administration's decision to overturn an international trade ruling against Apple promises to upend long-running battles over intellectual property in the smartphone market. Brent Kendall has more. Photo: Getty Images.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... the the ... Weston holders have sought to use to protect their inventions is in doubt companies like Samsung Apple and others have sought import bans for products found to infringe their intellectual property ... but the Obama administration just veto session than Samsung one against some older Apple products ... Wall Street Journal Legal Reporter Brent Kendall joins us from Washington talk to the implications of this veto breaking morning ... the market okay so it ... catches up quickly all in ... the Samsung Apple case with the ruling wise and in what we just got from the Obama missed ration response ... well I was that it was a busy weekend and early J and the International Trade Commission which is a surprise that a judicial body ... ruled that Apple infringed a Samsung patent ... and at the ITC they can cuz monetary damages for what they can do is ban the import or sale of products and friends patterns ... and the ITC said these ... older Apple I Phones and eye pads should be banned ... so the the about administration has sixty days cheered the ruling from the ITC and they can be counted them nobody had done that twenty five years ... he managed in a station while I write down of the wire and mid afternoon Saturday the U S trade representative ... who was in charge of this decision announced that he was he telling the product and ... should set off ... you have an earthquake all through the ... tech community that smartphone community and people who pay attention to a ... white now and it was this really unexpected right before ... that ... that ITC relief I've been to recall the Obama missed ration ... threw cold water on the very idea that ... import bans ... could could be instituted as as as a penalty by the ITC ... so at ... misunderstand what what what what really changes ... for ... patent cases going four for smartphones for for other devices ... also in the way things have worked recently as when you hold the pattern then you wanna say one of your rivals to bring a case in federal court and at the International Trade Commission ... course grew more slowly in the ITC has a much ... faster process ... and and the potential that you can win at the ITC and have an order that will ban your rivals' products is a pretty powerful weapon have Against or competitor ... I can give you great leverage in negotiations ... it just changes the dynamic and so with the veto ... you know this basically sends a signal that it's gonna be a lot harder to get these product bans particularly in cases like this month ... that involved were called standard essential patents these are patterns that company holds ... that are essential to a technology like wireless standards or DVD players ... and these are standards that all companies to agree to implement and is part of the process of one of your patented technologies is included in the standard ... you are committed to license licensing at on a fair and reasonable basis as that the gunmen here between ... between Samsung and Apple on whether he had Samsung made a fair offer and whether Apple was of a willing licensee ... but says the teacher address eighty ... seven I love that debate inside ... the and these types of cases ... yet it should be rare when you get a product ban on ... and it isn't just didn't happen and it is you mention your story it's not just ... standard essential patents which companies like Motorola like Samsung have asserted that there are so problematic ... I did there are other times they just they just don't like to import bans ... in general because that is such a ... heavy weapon to be swinging ... ITE in the stints in these cases now I get my last question quickly by which time is ... what is the impact of beyond actual By seals mean a lot of this for a lot of people it feels sorta like a sideshow ... well maybe for the average can ... consumer that would be the case a maniac on forwards whets was to be affected if this had not been the editing ... in eighteen T would sell this device had ... never ... told the trader after this that this was an entry level smartphone was fairly cheap that can consumers can get ... from that sentiment could've had a real world impact ... but here I mean he ... gets it ... for consumers maybe this is a bit of this I said that a mean there's big money at stake for these companies and NFX teacher ... unit Future Julio contests ever happens in smartphones and and you know the licensing revenues that that these companies stand to ... to take a ... serious tested if it's all about how much these companies can make from these devices and they have to pay ... the license to lecture